Mayor invites Trumps to Dr. Seuss museum after book donation kerfuffle

The mayor of Springfield, Mass., has invited the Trump family to visit its Dr. Seuss museum, after the first lady’s donation of Dr. Seuss books was turned away by a school librarian.

Melania Trump donated a set of Dr. Seuss books to one school in every state, including a Cambridge, Mass., elementary school, earlier this month for National Read a Book Day. The Cambridge librarian rejected the gift in a blog post, in the form of a letter to Trump that accused the books of “racist” themes and images.

In a message on Springfield’s Facebook page, Mayor Domenic J. Sarno (D) denounced the librarian’s comments.

“’One fish — two fish — red fish — blue fish’ – I think her comments ‘stink’ and are ridiculous towards our beloved Dr. Seuss,” he wrote.

{mosads}Sarno’s post refers to the librarian, Liz Phipps Soeiro, who wrote that her school does not need the books, and suggested that Trump donate them to an underprivileged school that is “marginalized and maligned by policies put in place by Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos.”

Soeiro also critiqued Trump’s book selection, saying that Dr. Seuss’ illustrations are “steeped with racist propaganda, caricatures, and harmful stereotypes.”

The first lady’s spokeswoman put out a statement Friday, calling the situation “unfortunate.”

Sarno refuted the librarian’s claims that Dr. Seuss’ illustrations are racist, calling the comments “political correctness at its worst.”

“Dr. Seuss books continue to be a strong tool in our city’s marked improvements in our reading retention programs,” Sarno wrote. “By the way, kudos to First Lady Melania Trump for her generous offer to donate Dr. Seuss books to that Cambridge school library —they don’t want them — we’ll take them.”